Composed while Wollstonecraft was a governess in Ireland, the novel was published in 1788 shortly after her summary dismissal and her momentous decision to embark on a writing career, a precarious and disreputable profession for women in 18th-century Britain.
Aware of the precarious nature of his profession after rejection at first Chelsea and then Reading, the 22-year-old has enrolled on a journalism course at Stafford University.
The modest success of Thoughts and Johnson's encouragement emboldened Wollstonecraft to embark on a career as a professional writer, a precarious and somewhat disreputable profession for women during the 18th century.
In fact, the employment rate of media studies graduates is higher than in most other humanities and social science subjects; and most of them are getting jobs in media-related professions, however precarious they may be.
Unfortunately, social work often takes the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, as the impact of government cuts make a difficult profession even more precarious.
However, it was the Championship in which the profession was most precarious with no fewer than 10 managers parting company with their respective clubs during the same period compared with six in League One and seven in League Two.
While balancing the dual priorities of career and family is a challenge faced by women in every profession, the balance appears particularly precarious for women in academia.
